2. Spin Testing in an enclosed fixture. This equipment basically looked like a big top
loading washing machine. It was located inside the secured room. The neutron

generator was wired and assembled in a hard plastic material fixture and inserted in a
heavy aluminum fixture. The very heavy lid on the top of the equipment was closed,
people left the secured room, and the neutron generator was detonated. After the test,
the equipment was opened, the fixture removed, and the debris contents (generator and
plastic fixture pieces) manually pried out on a work bench and placed in a plastic bag.
There was no direct vent for this equipment other than the room’s ventilation.

Design of the “Boom Boxes”

The boom boxes were constructed of steel, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. They were of
welded construction. The hinged doors swung up to access the area to be cleaned (neutron
generator debris). On the back side of the door, the plywood panel was mounted in a simple
frame. The door was flat sheet metal with about a 1/8 inch gasket cemented to the inside to
make contact with the boom box face. It was by no means an air-tight fit. The door were not
latched down, but held in place by elastic cords.

On top of each
chamber there was an
exhaust duct about 4X8
inches that joined
together then went up
to the exhaust system.
The sliding door on the Firing Tube.
bottom was of a
guillotine design.

Exhaust vent

Access door

Plywood barrier
There were two

complete testing

systems, each having

instrumentation, firing instrumentation
tubes, and boom Ya

; B
boxes. Each system 7 \ oom Box

had two firing tubes
(large and small), and
‘on the back side of the
wall a boom box was
located. The boom box
had two compartments
(chambers), two Unmanned area
access doors, and two
sliding trap doors, all of
which was aligned
behind each firing tube.
The boom box was actually one large welded unit and had a permanent steel barrier
between each compartment.

Trap door

Debris collection can

Secure Room

Firing Tubes and “Boom Box" configuration

(no scale)

Final Comments

Various type of environmental testing equipment was used to test products, including
neutron generators. | do not know if any of the neutron tubes fractured during vibration or
shock testing. The report should indicate that either there were no reports of tube breakage
or that no information is available on possible tube breakage.

Page 3 of 3 (11/04/05)



Page 1 of 1

Miller, Diane M.

From:

Sent: Sunday, November 06, 2005 8:52 PM
To: _, NIOSH Docket Office
Ce: Shahra (Senator Bill Nelson) Anderson; |

Subject: Re: Pinellas Plant Site Profile

Please find attached information on "Building 200" which contains comments on the CDC/NIOSH "Pinellas Plant
Site Profile."

GEND-LMSC employee on Pinellas Plant site
CME employee on Pinellas Plant site

11/8/2005



Pinellas Plant Site Profile

Building 200

November 3, 2005

Scope

This document is a recollection of a former GEND/ LMSC employee that was in the
position to know about some of the equipment and processes used in Building 200 at the
Pinellas Plant. It is the author's intent not to disclose any classified material or processes
herein. Further, the intention of this document is to provide the CDC/NIOSH and ex-
employees of the site with additional information not shown in the ORAU Team Dose
Reconstruction Project for NIOSH titled “Pinellas Plant - Site Description.”

About the Author (employee)

The author was employed at this location between . His job in
engineering required visits to building 200 over a span of 31 years, sometimes daily. He was
involved in the design and drawings of test equipment, and of particular concern, equipment
used in the testing, both destructive and non-destructive, of neutron generators. As such, he
was familiar with the testing procedures as well as the environment.

NIOSH’s Existing Description of Building 200

The following is the current (November 3, 2005) description in document ORAT-T-
TKBS-0029-2, revision 00), dated 08/05/2005, section 2.2 (Site Activities and Processes,
Building 200):

Building 200 was built in stages between 1959 and 1978; it covers approximately
1,505 square meters (16,200 square feet). The building was used for destructive
testing of neutron generators and other components manufactured at Pinellas (Author
unknown 1988a, Bldg. 200 survey). Destructive testing included shock, vibration, and
explosive tests.

The modernization task force completed a radiological survey of building 200 in 1988
to identify the general level of radiological contamination and perform an initial
decontamination cost estimate. The June 1988 survey showed less than 5 percent of
Building 200 contaminated with tritium. The maximum contamination level was 1xlo4
disintegrations per minute per 100 square centimeter smear inside a testing chamber,
and the average contamination was less than 220 disintegrations per minute per 100
square centimeters (Author unknown 1988a, Bldg. 200 survey). The final
characterization report in 1997 found that radioactive waste and tritium was present
inside the building but did not identify specific contamination levels or types of
radioactive waste; the report found that all quantities were less than reportable
amounts required by 40 C.F.R. pt. 355 or 40 C.F.R. pt. 302.4 (Author unknown
1996a,p.3).

During operation the building exhaust system maintained negative pressure on three
testing chambers (boom boxes) and a single radiological waste drum. The ventilation
system passed through high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters before being
exhausted from the building roof (MMSC 1995, p. 5-4). The stack exhausted 36.8
cubic meters per minute (2,300 cubic feet per minute). It stands 17.7 meters (58 feet)
tall and is 30.5 centimeters (12 inches) in diameter.

Page 1 of 3 (11/04/05)



Further, the following is under 2.3 (Site Products), subsection 2.3.1 (Equipment),
paragraph “Building 200:

Building 200 was used to test the operability of the neutron generators under extreme

conditions. These quality assurance tests included destructive testing of the units

inside test chambers known as boom boxes. The ventilation system for Building 200
passed through HEPA filters before exhausting out the building roof.

Comments on NIOSH’s Existing Description of Building 200

This author does not dispute statements in the document ORAT-T-TKBS-0029-2,
revision 00) as | have no evidence to the contrary. Likewise, | do not confirm the reports
correctness. | do feel that the report omits information, which is contamination from
radioactive material that did not pass to the filtering system and/or stack.

| do pose likely sources for radioactive contamination in this document, resulting from
testing operations, collection, and disposal of waste neutron generators, instrumentation
cables, foam insulation, plastic containers, and plywood baffles.

This document is by no means complete in that it describes all of the process used in
building 200 for the functional testing of neutron generators or in the testing of any other
components generating radioactive materials or waste.

Functional Testing of Neutron Generators

Certain quantities of neutron generators were functionally tested. This involved
destruction of the units by explosive detonation, resulting in fragments of the units as well as
other materials. The units were typically pack in urethane foam which also fragmented,
adding to the radioactive waste. Note that this was rigid foam that that ranged from chunks
down to sand gain sized particulate. Styrofoam was also used as a spacer to located the
generators in relation to the measurement instrumentation. There was also instrumentation
cables and connectors which became part of the waste.

For “Boom Boxes,” a special treated (fireproofed?) plywood barrier was installed
inside the chamber doors to deflect some of the detonation. They were rotated 90-degrees
after each generator test, allowing for four tests. Particles of the generator would imbed in
these boards. It is not known how these boards were disposed of.

Destructive Equipment used

There were several types of equipment used to functional test neutron generators.
This depended on the end use of the generator.

1. Firing Tubes with Boom Box containers. This equipment was mounted on and through a
wall. The neutron generator was wired and assembled in a urethane foam fixture and
inserted in a “firing tube.” The tube was closed and the area where the firing tubes were
located was cleared then the generator detonated. On the far side of the wall (in the
secured room), a steel “Boom Box” was mounted. This contained the detonation. The
top of the boom box was connected to a duct system. The bottom was a funnel shape
that had a sliding trap door in it. After the detonation, a plastic bag was placed in a
standard office trash can placed under the boom box. The firing tube was opened and a
rammer inserted to push any debris out of the tube into the boom box. The boom box’s
trap door was opened, and the main access door opened as well. Any surviving debris
was brushed down using a standard dustpan brush. The bag was tied and stored in case
any further examination was needed. | have no recollection of the test technicians using
any protective wear, neither gloves, or dust masks, certainly not respirators.

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